Appliance for swimmers.



No. 696,663. Patent-ed 1an. 7, |962.y .6 H. PRATT.

APPLIANCE FOR SWIMMERS.

(Application led Aug. 16, 1901.)

am Model.)

UNITED "STATES PATENT FFICE.

HARRY PRATT, oF KENILwoRTH, ILLINOIS." Y

APPLIANCE Foa sw|MMER's.

SPECIFICATION 'forming part of Letters Patent No. 690,663, dated January7, 1 902. Application filed August 16, 1901. SerialNo. 72,213. (Nomodel.)

thereon, which form a part of this specifica,

tion.

This invention relates to a novel appliance y for the use of swimmersintended to enable end to the outer air.

the swimmer to breathe regularly when the mouth and nostrils areoccasionally suhmerged, as when swimming in rough water, and to renderit unnecessary for the swim- .mer to continuously keep his mouthandnostrils above the surface of the water.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter describedand pointedout in the aplpended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure l is afront View of the head of a person with my novel appliance in positionfor use thereon. Fig. 2 is a side View of tllehead and showing themanner of holding the mouthpiece in place between the teeth. Fig. 3 is arear perspective View of the mouthpiece and the lower end of the airtubeand showing also the means for closing the nostrils. Fig. 4 shows theupper end of the air-tube and the cap which fits thereover to excludewater therefrom.

As shown in said drawings, A indicates a mouthpiece adapted to begrasped or held between the teeth and provided with an air-passage ct,and B is an air-tube attached to and extending upwardly from themouthpiece, connected at its lower end with the passage in the saidmouthpiece .and open at its upper Said tube is provided with meanswhereby its upper part may be secured to the head of the wearer, so thatit may retain its position with its open end directed upwardly. Thedevice for this puri pose herein shown consists lof a plate C, adaptedto rest against the forehead, and a band or bands C O, extending fromthe ends of said plate around the head of the wearer iu such manner asto hold the plate C Iirmlyin place. rlhe air-tube is shown as attachedto the plate C by'means of clips c c; but it may be secured thereto inany desired manner.`

The bands C C maybe strips or tapes adapt- 5 5 ed to be tied about thehead or they `may be made of elastic material.

The air-tube A may be made of metal, hard rubber, or any other suitablematerial. The

upper end of said tube extends to the vicinity 6o teeth and at the sametime the lips of the 7o wearer may close about it to prevent theentrance of water to the mouth. Said mouthpiece is shown as providedwith a flange a', extending in all directions from its outer part or endand which is adapted to come against the lips of the wearer, and therebynot only prevent the mouthpiece being placed or drawn too far into themouth, but also by its contact with .the lips aiding in excluding waterfrom the mouth. preferably be made of soft rubber, the same being betteradapted forl being grasped between the teeth than would a hardsubstance.

Manifestly whenA the mouthpiece is held in the teeth and the upper partof the air-tube secured to the head vthe tube will be firmly held inplace, and as said tube will afford free communication between the'mouthand the open air the wearer while swimming can 9o breathe freely whenhis mouth and nostrils are submerged either occasionally or continually.

As an additional feature I provide in connection with the mouthpiece andair-tube jdescribed two nose-pads D D, together with means for holdingor pressing the same against the nostrils in such manner as to Aclosethe same. As herein shown the pads D D are arf ranged to press upon thesides ot the nostrils rool above the nostril-openings and are held bylspring-pressure against the same. Asa convenient construction in meansfor giving spring-support to said pads the air-tube B is Manifestly thetube may be made of 65 The mouthpiece will 8o l thereon.

branched above the nose so as to form a central loop, the side portionsb b of which eX- tend at either side of the nose and the pads D areattached to the lower ends of leafsprings D D', the upper ends of whichare attached to the side portions b b of the air-tube. The lower ends ofthe leaf-springs D D stand inwardly away from the side portions of thetubes, so as to permit a considerable amount of lateral play or movementin the pads and so that they may adjust themselves to position on thenose of any wearer. The springs will of course be made suflcientstrength or stiffness to give such degree of pressure on the nostrilsasis required for closing the same. I also provide for verticaladjustment of the nose-pads D, so that the same may be brought intoproper vertical position to suit the wearer. This adjustment isaccomplished in the construction shown by so attaching the springs D' tothe side portions b of the air-tube that the springs may be adjusted upor down on the tubes. The springs are shown as secured to rings d d,which encircle and are adapted to slide on the tubes and are providedwith set-screws d' d', by which they may be firmly secured to the tubeswhen in proper position Said air-tube may be made of any cross-sectiondesired; but I prefer to make the tube flatten ed or elliptical incross-section with the longer axes disposed from front to rear. In thismanner I am enabled to provide a tube of ample capacity while at thesame time affording a minimum resistance to the passage thereof throughthe water.

As a still further improvement I provide the air-tube at its upper endwith a cap or cover E, which is arranged to surround and extenddownwardly over the end of the tube, while at the same time leaving theend of the tube open for the free ingress and egress of air. The cap orcover thus arranged avoids liability of splased water or spray fallinginto or entering the open upper end of the airtube, and thus finding itsway into the wearers mouth. Said cap E is herein shown as made of thesame cross-section as the tube and attached to the end of the tube byradial iins or ianges extending between the tube and cap endwise of thesame.

The device described as a whole may be easily applied and adjusted, maybe comfortably worn, and is calculated to perform fully the servicedesired-namely, to avoid liability of a swimmer taking water through hismouth or nostrils when in rough Water or high waves and to render itunnecessary for the swimmer to always keep his mouth and nostrils abovethe surface of the water.

I claim as my inventionl. An appliance for swimmers, comprising amouthpiece, an air-tube, and means for securing the upper part of theair-tube to the head, said air-tube being branched at a point above thenose and the branches of said tube being connected with the mouthpieceat a point below the nose of the wearer.

2. An appliance for swimmers, comprising a mouthpiece, an air-tube andnose-pads.

3. The combination with a mouthpiece, au air-tube, a forehead-pieceattached to the tube, and a head band or bands attached t0 theforeheadpiece, said air -tube being branched at a point above the noseof the wearer and said branches being connected with the mouthpiece at apoint below the nose of the wearer.

4E. An appliance for the purpose stated,com prising a mouthpiece, anair-tube and nosepads and means for supporting said pads affordingadjustment of the position of the same with respect to 'the mouthpiece.

5. The combination of a mouthpiece,an airtube, nose-pads, andspring-supports for said pads.

6. The combination of a mouthpiece,an airtube, nose-pads and springsattached to the air-tube and supporting said pads.

7. The combination of a mouthpiece,au airtube branched to form a loopopposite the nose, nose-pads, and springs connecting said nose-pads withthe side portions of said loop.

S. The combination of a mouthpiece,an airtube, nose-pads, andleaf-springs supporting said pads from the air-tube, said springs beingadjustable up and down on the air-tube.

9. The combination of a mouthpiece,an airtube branched to form a loopopposite the nose, nose-pads, and leaf-springs supporting the nose-pads,said springs being secured to the side portions of the loop by meansaffording adjustment of the springs endwise on the sides of the loop.

10. The combination with a mouthpiece, an air-tube, a liatforehead-piece made of sheet material attached to the tube, a band orbands attached to the forehead-piece, said tube being adapted to passdownwardly at the side of the nose of the wearer, and attached to saidmouthpiece.

11. An appliance for swimmers comprising a mouthpiece, an air-tube,adjustable nosepads on said air-tube, and a cap which covers the upperend of said tube while permitting access and egress of air.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I afiiX mysignature, in presence of two witnesses, this 10th day ofAugust,A.D.1901.

HARRY PRATT.

Witnesses z C. CLARENCE POOLE, WILLIAM L. HALL.

IOO

TIO

IIS

